Thankful Thursday

We are thankful for...

• instant hot water
• heated floors
• family gatherings
• lots of laughs
• gifts from our students

Language Fail

Ugh, we all know that problems in the workplace are no fun. Well, add a language barrier to the mix and these problems can be a million times worse. BIS is an amazing school and we’ve been very fortunate to get the opportunity to work with some incredible people. There are, however, frustrations just like any other professional environment.

One of the more prominent frustrations is the communication problem. Christopher and I are often frustrated with the communication between the only English speaking staff, the English/Korean speaking staff, the semi-English/Korean speaking staff, and the only Korean speaking staff (does that make sense?). We have co-workers from every degree of the spectrum and it gets frustrating and exhausting communicating policy, ideas, and concerns in this manner. We feel that important words are often lost in translation, resulting in an entirely different scenario than we had anticipated. There have been times when a Korean staff member tells each of us foreign teachers something individually and then when we convene to discuss, we all have gotten something different from the conversation, leaving us very confused.

We wish there wasn't such a barrier between the foreign staff and the Korean staff. All of the staff here are so kind and gracious yet we don't really know them or their true personalities. We often hear them laughing and are disappointed because we want to be in on the joke; we want to know what funny thing happened on the way to work or what child they are making fun of. Unfortunately, our Korean skills are sub par and we probably won't be at the level to understand them more clearly any time soon. We don't even know their real Korean names - they only tell us their English names and all of the children use their English names. If you know me, you know that I like to talk and I hate that I can't always converse with the other staff members on a productive level. When riding in an elevator with them, I simply have no words and it's frustrating.

Chris and I have decided that we need to make more of a conscious effort to become better citizens of the Republic of Korea which includes learning more of the language. Reading Hangul is clearly not enough to effectively communicate with the many interesting people whom we encounter and wish to know. We are going to be having a very basic Korean class, facilitated by our Korean friends, in exchange for writing help and "accent improvement" (that's what they want). We will keep you posted on our progress, although it may be slow.

In the meantime, these daily Korean words and phrases on the Korea Times website have been helpful...

Friday Food

Tteokbokki tteok 떡볶이떡

Tteok is a common snack food here in Korea. Essentially, it is a steamed rice cake made with sticky rice flour. Most often it is served as street food in a spicy chili sauce. These plain tteokbokki are my new favorite snack. We purchase about twenty of these cylinder-shaped cakes for about $2 and then pop them in the trusty toaster oven to make a delicious treat. Well, I guess not so much delicious seeing as they don’t have much of a taste but they are very enjoyable to eat – they are warm with a slightly crunchy outside and a gooey inside. Mmm, I want some now :)

Thankful Thursday

We are thankful for....

• 빼빼로 (pepero) Day!
• online banking
• our digital cameras
• back scratches
• Mac OSX Snow Leopard

Fall, don't go...

Fall is by far my favorite season and I have always thought it to be too short. It seems as if the trees change colors right before our eyes and a switch is flipped that makes the air instantly crisper, and then, before you know it, the trees are barren and the air is biting. There are countless reasons I adore autumn, a few being the color orange, scarves, afternoon coffee runs, the sound of crunching leaves, boots, crisp morning walks, decievingly warm sun, the color red, cider, open windows, morning coffee with cinnamon, anything pumpkin, fresh air, light breezes, did I mention harvest blend?

Because we're from the wonderful state of Colorado, you think we'd be used to cold winters. Not the case at all, cold springs, yes, but not cold winters. We are not happily awaiting the winter solstice in Seoul, however we won't mind it as much seeing as we will not have to drive to and from work in snow traffic and the floors in our apartment are heated!

I know our fallish days are numbered so here are some autumn pictures that keep my spirits up...

Adventuresome

From time to time we get comments regarding how adventuresome we both are. These are wonderful compliments but we don’t completely see ourselves as these wild adventure seekers. Yes we did move to a foreign environment and began working unfamiliar jobs, but it never could've happened without the fearless spirit of my wife.

From early childhood I never felt the desire to travel if the destination I was going to didn’t have familiar faces to see. Putting myself into a foreign place with unfamiliar sights and sounds seemed truly preposterous. Why leave the comforts I have come to know when all they do is keep me happy? Up through high school I strayed from undertaking new endeavors, traveling to new places, and trying things that would challenge me. Funny how one person can really flip your world around.

It was a step by step process Lauren took, easing me into the venturesome type. The first thing she did was convince me to apply to an out of state school. This was perfect, one small step to put me out of my comfort zone a bit by moving me away from all that I have known growing up. Thankfully, it was to a place I was quite familiar with, Arizona.

Secondly, it was time to get out of the comforts of a house and a city and into the wild of nature. Hard to believe now, but my first camping trip was with Lauren after high school was over. Once there it was clear this was going to be a wonderful habit to get into.

The next step was by far the most difficult. Take me out of the country.The desire to travel abroad for me was fairly non-existent to this point. I was offered a trip to Europe after high school by my generous grandparents, but a combination of mild interest and bad timing prevented it from happening (not all was lost, a glorious cruise took its place). Lauren, on the other hand, had the courage to move to Europe for an entire semester. Sophomore year of college Lauren set sail (figuratively) for Paris. Before she left she was pushing and pushing me to get a ticket to visit her. I kept telling her I would try, all the while trying to find excuses. It basically came down to a couple of things. I was pretty nervous about going to the other side of the world, and I couldn’t justify the cost of going. Every time Lauren and I would talk, she would push me about getting my passport. She would tell me “Well at least get your passport just in case you DO have the money to come, that way you can do it. If you get the money and don’t have your passport, then what are you going to do?” I understood her point, but continued to delay.

Finally came the middle of March and I gave in. Her point was too good to deny, and I also figured the passport wouldn't come in time, therefore I most likely wouldn’t have to face my fear. Photo taken and application submitted. I told Lauren that I had submitted the application and “we’ll see how long it will take”. She remained very hopeful, in turn making me a little nervous. Mind you, I did NOT choose the expedited process…Divine intervention? Perhaps. Less than 2 weeks later my passport arrived. I took it as a sign and booked by ticket to Paris. I would go in April in the middle of the semester. The layovers and long plane rides would be plenty of time to do any extra writing/reading for my classes I was missing. This experience continues to serve as the most eye opening experience of my life. The trip was inexplicably incredible. It widened my perspective and gave me so much to think about and consider. This is what officially whet my appetite for uncovering the unknown.

I owe it all to you my wife, just one of the many reasons I love you :)

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain

Thankful Thursday

This week we are thankful for...

• Guardian Angels
• Unlimited coffee shops in Seoul
• Days of rest
• Afternoon off periods
• Slippers